Conors te-mixeb



E. B. RAVE NG ROPT. CONCRETE MIXER.

AIfPLIOATIOH FILED JUNE 5, 1908.

907,284, I Patented Dec. 22,1908.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

1 WNW/53135: INVENTOR- I a I I Atlorneyo.

E. B. RAVENGROFT.

CONCRETE MIXER.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 5, 190a.

Patented Dec.22,1908.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

ml M Z l E W 0 I Arlorneyi UNITED" STATES, PATENT QFFICE.

EVAN B. RAVENCROFT, OF MISHAWAKA, INDIANA.

' OONCBE TE-MIXER.

To all whom it may concern:

vBe it known that I, EVAN B. RAVENCROFT, a citizen of the United States,and resident of Mishawaka, St. Jose h county, State of Indiana, haveinvente certain new and useful Improvements in Concrete-Mixers; and mypreferred manner of carrying out the invention is set forth in thefollowing full, clear, and exact description, terminating with claimsparticularly specifying the novelty.

This invention relates to mills, and 'more especially to mortar mixers;and the object of the same is to produce a mixer for concrete and thelike capable of being readily filled and dumped, and of being takenapart as for repalr.

The following specification sets forth the details of the presentinvention, asshown in the drawings wherein- Figure 1 1s a perspectiveview of the mixer in the position it generally assumes when in use,showing in detail the stop pins whose use permits the turning of theframe through one alf a circle and whose removal permits its turningthrough a full circle. Fig. 2 is a central vertical section through themixer shows ing it tilted on its trunnions to a position where the axisof the drum is oblique and the entire machine is balanced. Fig. 3 showsdetails of the parts of the drum slightly separated from each other,showing their preferred manner of formation. Fig. 4 is a lan view andFig. 5 a front elevation of one o the F 1g. 6 1s a sectional view show.

deflectors. in g the tumblin r of the material which takes place whenthe body rotates on a horizontal axis and Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic viewshowing the spiral agitation of the material by the deflectors when thebody rotates on an oblique axis. Fig. 8 is an elevation of the inlet endof the mixer, showing the hop er detached and with one of its bearingsbro en away.

7 Referring tothe drawin s, the numeral 1 designates the base from w ichrises a air of supports or legs 2 in which are journa ed the trunnions 3of a frame 4here shown as comprising two like members havin theircenters parallel and their ends bent ob iquely inward, and theextremities of the latter are connected by ball races 5 which areattached to the extremities by screws and are preferably madeinterchangeable so that any one will fit in the place ofanother on anymachine of the same size. To the outer end of Specification of LettersPatent.

Application filed June 5, 1908. Serial No. 437,037.

Patented iDec. 22, 1908.

one trunnion is secured a light handle 7 preferably standing in linewith the frame 4, and adapted to rest in horizontal position on stoppins 211 which are removably inserted in one of the legs 2 as shown inFig. 1, and it is obvious that by movin this handle throu h one half acircle so t at it will rest on t e other pin illustrated in this viewthe entire framework'will be turned from the position indicated, to andthrough a position where its hopper will be elevated and its exitdepressed so that dumping will occur, and finally to a osition reversedfrom that shown. Through t e other trunnion (which is tubular) projectsa power shaft 8 driven from any suitable source as a crank handle 80 ora sprocket wheel 81 (to be connected with a 7 source of power, notshown), and this shaft has a bevel gear 9 fast on its inner end justwithin the adjacent member of the frame 4.

The mixing chamber proper is composed of a double conical drumcomprising two cylin- A pieces havin their ends la ping and rivetedtogether. ,1 e larger en of each. cone is deflected inward into acylindrical flange 130, which fits inside the end of-=the adjacent cylinder and is riveted thereto as shown. The smaller end of each cone hasan opening preferably about eighteen inches'in diameter so that a boy ora small'man can crawl through into the com leted drum and perform workwithin it. 1 ext outside the smaller end of each cone is located a neck16 having an in-' ternal diameter of about thirteen inches, from whichprojects a flange 160adapted to fit outside the truncated end of thecone, to which it is bolted so as to render it removable, and .100

by preference said neck forms the inner mem her of the ball race 5. Thenumeral 15 designates a hopper preferably having a curved and funnelshaped body whose smaller end 150 projects loosely into said neck and isheld therein by screws 17 taking through ears 170 and interchangeably enagmg screw-threaded holes 50 in the fixed bal race 5, a series of balls14 being into osed between the race 5 and neck 16 as w be understood.From this description it will be clear that by removin the screws 17 thefunnel may be reverse and that it can be applied to the neck at eitherend of the machine although it is ref- --erably attached on that endtoward w ich the handle 7 rojects, as shown, and that end of the bodyecomes the inlet and the other the outlet. The ball races are preferably7 connected with the frame by screws 40, and

with the power gear 9 and whose cylindrical portion is connected withthe ends of the members 10 and 11 by screws 180thereby holding themalined and connected but permitting their disconnection when desired. As

above'stated, the inner member 11 is preferably a little deeper than theother member 10 so that in covering the meeting line between them thegear ring stands to one side ofa line through the trunnions. Thisconstruction is purposely adopted to ut the weight of said ring to thatside of a ine through the trunnions which is opposite to the directionin which the handle 7 projects and the neck to which the hopper 15 1sattachedthereby producing a perfect balance of the entire machine=on itstrunnions so that a child could rock it or it will stand at rest in anyinclined position to which it is set. .This I consider an importantdetail of construction, in view of the fact that a machine adapted tohandle body from the showing about fourteen cubic feet of material weihs in the neighborhood of 3,500 pounds whic is the weight u on thetrunnions. Ifit should so happen t at the power ap lied to the s rocketwheel 81 leads from sue a direction t at it is not convenient to attachthe hopper where shown, it can be reversed in the manner set forth aboveso as to have the inlet and outlet at the relatively o posite ends ofthe herein, and the removability of the pins 211 is therefore of use inpermitting the entire rotation of the body on its trunnions without thenecessity for disconnecting the handle. I

It will be obvious that power applied to the crank handle or s rocketwill rotate the shaft 8 and gear 9, an .the latter by meshing with thegear rin 18 will cause the drum to turn on its axis which is a linedrawn through the centers of said ball races, and it will also beobvious that when this axis stands horizontal the material to be treatedcan be fed into the hopper and will be mixed, but when the frame istilted on its trunnions so that the axis stands oblique the materialwill be dumped out of the exit into a suitable receptacle. r

n connection with the above machine, I preferably employ an agitatorconsisting of a series of deflectors best seen in Fi s. 4 and 5. As hereillustrated, each deflector as a body 20 which is straight across itsupper and lower edges but bent back to the rear, and

curved in plan view so that its dished side or mouth stands forward, atboth ends of the body are ends 200 whose upper and lower edges r1seobliquel from those of the body and the bodies of t ese ends in planview extend on straight lines continuin the tangents of the are throughwhich t e body is curved, and the outer extremities 21 of the ends aredeflected sli htly outward on a straight line with eac other and whichwould be on a chord of said are in plan VlGW' and are tipped backward attheir u per corners. From the lower edge of the hody depend two feet 22which are bent to the rear as at 23 and are adapted to be engaged byscrews 12 taking through the cylindrical portion of the drum; and fromthe ends 200 depend two other feet 220 also bent to the rear as at 230and ada ted to be engaged by screws 120 taking t rough the conicalportions of the drum. Thus itwill be seen that there are four points ofattachment between each deflector and the drum, and as there are two oneither side of the line between the meeting edges of the members 10 and11 the screws 12 and 120 assist in holding said members together. Thefeet 22' and 220 are of sufficient length to hold the lower edges of thebod and ends sli htly above the interior wal s of the cylindrlcal andconical members so as to leave a space through which the liquid in themixture and some of the finest portions of the latter may pass.

As seen in Fig. 6, when the drum rotates on a horizontal axis, thematerial is collected from the cones by the ends 200 which convergetoward the body 20, and. banks up against the latter where itaccumulates unt it tumbles over its rearwardly deflected center.

As seen in Fig. 7, where the drum rotates on an oblique axis, the bulkof the material being agitated is cau ht and handled by one of the ends200, whi e the body 20 catches so e of it and holds it from said end,and the other end 200 in the then hi her cone is per forming little orno service ence the result is that the material is banked up and dumpedthe lowermost extremity 21 and drops out some; 2:

the exit. In any event, however, the water and finer particles whichpass under the 'deflector constantly scour the inner wall of the drumand keep it cleaned and free of rust. Obviously the precise shape of thebends in the deflector body and its extremities is immaterial, but Iconsider it desirable that the mouths of all the deflectors shall bepresented in the same direction circumfercntially around the interior ofthe drum.

The use of a machine of this character need hardly be explained indetail, since it is well known to those skilled in the art. The materialto be mixed is dumped into the hop er 15 whence it flows through theadjacent neck 16 and falls into the interior of the drum, the rotationof the latter produces mixing by means of the agitator whether the drumstands on a horizontal or an oblique axis, and after the material hasbeen thoroughly mixed the drum is tilted on its trunnions so as to dumpthe mixed material out of the exit into a suitable receptacle.

All parts are of the desired sizes and pro.

portions, and are preferably of metal to prevent rust.

Such changes in-specific details may be adopted as do not depart fromthe gist of the invention set forth in the claims below.

What is claimed as new is:

1. In a mixer of the character described, the combination with a drumhaving reduced ends with tubular necks at their axial extremities, atilting frame including ballraces withballs surrounding said'necks,saidraces being interchangeable at opposite ends of the frame and eachhaving screw-threaded holes, and means for rotating the drum on itsaxis; of a hopper having a funnel-shaped body and a reduced endextending loosely into one of said necks, ears projecting radially fromthe funnel, and screws taking through said cars into certain of saidscrew-threaded holes and holding the funnel interchangeably on eitherrace.

2. In a mixer of the character described, the combination with a tiltingframe mounted on trunnions, and a power gear; of a drum having acylindrical body portion made in two members of different widths andhaving reduced ends, bearings in the frame for said ends, a hoppercarried by the bearing which is remote from the meeting line betweensaid members, a gear ring lapping said meeting line to balance the.machine on its trunnions and with its teeth engaging the power gear, andconnections between said ring and both members.

3. In a mixer .of the character described, the combination with atilting frame mounted on trunnions, a handle projecting from one ofthem, and a power gear; of a drum having a cylindrical body portion madein two members of different widths and having reduced ends, bearings inthe frame for said ends, a

hopper carried bythe bearing which is remote from the meeting linebetween said members and at that end of the drum toward which the handleprojects, a gear ringlapping made in two members with their adjacentends alined and connected, two conical ends each having a flange at itslarger extremity riveted to the outer end of one of said members and anopening at its smaller extremity, and two tubular necks each having aflange fitting the smaller end of one of the cones and removably boltedthereto; combined with a tilting frame having ring bearings in whichsaid necks are j ournaled and means for rotating the drum on itsbearings.

5. In a mixer of the character described, the combination, with arotating drum; of an agitator therein consisting of a series ofdeflectors each having a curved body with its mouth toward the front inthe direction of rotation of the drum, diverging ends project ingtangentially from the arc in which the body is struck, and rearwardlydeflected outer extremities.

6. Ina mixer of the character described, the combination with a rotatingdrum; of an agitator therein consisting of a series of'defiectors eachhaving a curved body with its mouth toward the front in the direction ofrotation of the drum, the inner edge of the gentially from the arc inwhich the body is struck, and rearwardly deflected outer extremitiesstanding in line with each other on a chord through said arc. I

7. In-a mixer of the character described, the combination with a drumhaving a cylindrical body portion and reduced ends, and means forrotating it on its axis; of an agitator consisting of a series ofdeflectors each having a body secured within the body por-. tion of thedrum with its'inner edge deflected to the reacof a radius in thedirection of rotation, and forwardly projecting ends secured within thereduced portions of said drum.

8. In a mixer of the character described, the combination with a drumcomprising a cylindrical body portion and conical ends, and meansforrotating it on its axis; of an agitator consisting of a series ofdeflectors each comprising a body with its lower edge parallel wlth thecylindrical ortion and ends with their lower ed es para el with theconical ortions of the rum, feet depending from the ody and ends andholding them spaced from the interior of the drum, and means for 4 ,see

the combination with a drum comprising a cylindrical body portion andconical ends, and means for rotating it on its axis; of an agitatorconsisting of a series of deflectors each comprising a body with itslower edge parallel with the cylindrical lportion and ends with theirlower edges para el with the conical portions of the drum, the bodybeing curved to the rear in the direction of rotation and the endsextending obliquely forward from the body in said direction, feetdepending from the body and ends and holding them spaced from theinterior of the drum, the feet being bent to the rear, and screws takingthrough said rearward bends and holding the 15 deflectors detachablywithin the drum.

EVAN B. RAVENCROFT.

Witnesses NEWTON L. OoiLLAMER, EDITH L. SMITH.

